Monday, June 1, 2009

Matt Leading a Team of 50 Students to Impact Ireland and EnglandAnd a vision appeared to Paul in the night; a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. –Acts 16:9-10

Do you believe God can still give people visions today? I believe God is still alive and active among his church today and he is still calling people to come join him in ways just as he did during the early church.

A couple of months ago I picked up a book titled “St. Patrick: Pioneer Missionary to Ireland.” And can you believe that the Lord gave Patrick a vision to go to Ireland similar to the one Paul received to go to Macedonia in the book of Acts?

Yes, that is right! Several months after Patrick had escaped his slave life in Ireland he had a vision in the night that changed his life… “I saw a man named Victoricus, coming from Ireland with countless letters. He gave me one of them, and I read the opening words which were: ‘The voice of the Irish…’ I thought at the same moment I heard their voice: ‘We beg you holy youth, come and walk among us once more.’”

From that time on Patrick prepared for the ministry and eventually made it back to Ireland to fulfill Gods call in bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to Ireland!

Ok, so I did not receive a specific vision from the Lord to go to Northern Ireland or England this summer, but I have received several emails from our Irish and British brothers and sisters in Christ to “Come over and help us!”

The need for the gospel to be proclaimed in Northern Ireland and England today is just as great as it was when St. Patrick received his call. So we have responded to their cry for help!

Please pray for Matt in July as he leads a team of 50 students and staff to serve and partner with churches in Londonderry, Northern Ireland and Tottenham, England for the sake of the gospel. Thank you for coming alongside us and helping us in the work he has called us to!

Last month Matt and I went to England for a week to visit with our Reign UK staff team and to explore the possibilities of a long-term UK missions/ministry position.

Here are some highlights:

We sensed the power of people praying for us - throughout the trip. On four different occasions we had British ministry leaders express to us a specific prayer, word, verse, or vision that God put on their heart specifically regarding us.

We were encouraged by how many open doors were shown to us regarding how He has specifically equipped us in the ministry to train up new youth and youth leaders to reach the UK.

We sensed continuous confirmation along the way that He is leading us to be exploring this possibility.

We were able to clearly see the great need and unique circumstances that make reaching youth in the UK especially strategic.

We were excited to see the heart of the ministry which our colleagues there are involved with – to reach teens in the UK for Christ. There is an entire generation missing from the local church and less than 1% of teens attend church.

What now? We are taking several months to “soak in prayer” the decision of whether the Lord is in fact leading our whole family to move to another continent!! Please join us in praying for this rather large decision. Pray we will be really in tune with Him. Pray we will be able to hear clearly and consistently if this is His will for our family. Please pray also that if we are to go that placement details would become more clear.

We hope to make a decision sometime this fall. Before leaving we would have to raise additional financial support. Should we move, it would be sometime in 2010 or 2011.